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Sunday, November 19, 2006

Woooo, Nitrates, Morro Mysterioso Syle and Other Stuff

Recent huge headlines in the Tribune, “Morro Bay tap water called unsafe for some,” then a day later, “Tap water in Morro called safe to drink.” Apparently, although Morro Bay’s been sewered for years (with the treated wastewater dumped out to sea) the nitrate levels in their wells located in the Morro Valley and Chorro Valley have nitrate levels above the state allowed standards.

When the city had to shut down the imported state watersupply for the annual pipe maintenance, the city had to rely on the well water. So, the warning went out that pregnant women, small children and the ill or immuno-compromised shouldn’t drink the water because the nitrate levels would be 4 parts per million over the state allowed amount. (It wasn’t noted how many gallons of water you’d have to drink at 4 parts per million over the limit to cause a problem.)

At any rate, here’s what I found amazing: “The source of the nitrates is not known; however, fertilizers are the most common source.”

The source is not known? Hmmm, since the Morro Valley and the Chorro Valley’s watershed comes under the pervue of the Regional Water Quality Control Board, apparently the staff there has never heard of isotope testing. Like, maybe years ago, they could have dropped some isotopes downstream from a farmer’s fields, then trace where they go. If they show up in the groundwater, then there’s a good bet that the “source” would be fertilizer run off from the field. At which point, the farmer could be issued a CDO and dragged into a “trial” and required to do whatever it took to cease and desist polluting the ground waters of the state of California, like maybe working with the city of Morro Bay to update their wastewater plant to include a beneficial use Ag Exchange so the nitrate-rich water could be applied in better amounts so the plants would uptake all of it, thereby eliminating the “extra” that ends up in the drinking water? And so forth.

Oh, wait, clearly the RWQCB doesn’t have the staff to do something like that since their staff’s all tied up with the CDO “trials” of 4,500 Los Ososians. They couldn’t possibly be expected to find out “the source of the nitrates” that have permanently polluted the waters of the state of California, which forced Morro Bay to import and mix their waters so they’d have a safe product. No, perish the thought.

Sign of the Times

Election’s over. Dissolution’s over. Time to get rid of some of the ginormous signs still dotting the town? Well, consider this. There’s folks busy trying to cut down stands of eucalyptus trees all over town, trees which serve as shelter for monarch butterflies and raptors.

Yesterday, driving down South Bay Blvd, I stared at the ginormous DISSOLVETHECSDGETTHEFACTS black sign there on private property at Pismo and SBB and perched on the sign was a gorgeous red-tailed hawk.

So, I say, maybe we should keep all our huge political signs up. Maybe put up even bigger, taller one. With so many trees cut down, we should at least offer some alternative perches for our feathered friends.

Hand Me That Cheese, It’s Rat Time

Patrick Klemz over at New Times (Nov 19 edition) has a story in News of the Week, called “Unraveling Tri-W.” It’s about the recent Planning Commission meeting wherein the Commission declared that building anything on Tri-W “might violate the General Plan.”

MIGHT?

What makes this all so weird is that at the final LAFCO hearing, while Alan Settle was coming unglued over the possibility that Tri-W might be sold, Paavo Ogren, who’s in charge of the Sewer project, sauntered up to the podium and announced with absolute sanguinity that, Nope, he wasn’t concerned, it presented no problem to the county in their consideration of plants and plans and sewer alternatives, not a worry, no problema.

Now, --NOW?-- we have “staff” and their totally weird notation that suddenly there’s some kind of hideous “danger” here, that the general plan MIGHT be violated if somebody MIGHT want to build, oh, let’s say, a mixed-use business and apartment complex there instead of a SEWER PLANT, and such a change in plans MIGHT require up to TWO YEARS to complete all the permits for such a project, and I commented in a previous blog that in the Coastal Zone, two years isn’t a “concern,” it’s a FAST TRACK.

What’s creepy is the spin on all this. When sanguinity starts shifting to vague unglue-ness and words like “condemn the property,” and “certain dangers,” start mixing in with Oh, well, this is all just “informational,” (heh-heh) that we’re just keeping “all options open,” and the famous weasel-words, “could” and “might” show up, then people need to start looking carefully. There’s the distinct possibility that little ratsies are scuttling in the underbrush and it’s time to grab the cheese and check the traps.

I'm so glad you addressed this nitrate thing, Anne. The tree slaughter. too. And Friday hundreds of us got stuck on Los Osos Valley Road for 45 minutes by road workers who gave us NO warnings and NO signage announcing there would be delays until the point of no return. (Yes, people who drive into town every day might have seen warnings, but not people who live and work out here.)

Why does the county hate Los Osos so much? County government CAUSED all these problems in the first place by allowing non-regulated development out here in the 60s and 70s. Now they persecute innocent homeowners and destroy the beauty of our landscape and the wildlife habitat. Plus they keep sick people from medical appointments.

What explanation does the county give? Simply "WE'RE the government and YOU'RE NOT, Los Osos." Anybody remember something called democracy? Sorry. I know there are a lot of Fascists who write on this blog. I apologize if I've offended your belief system.

Farmer's septic tanks? You've got to be kidding (Anon: 8:26 AM, November 19, 2006) nitrates are coming from the farming itself, not the little bit of urine a few farmers produce, how about the gallons of urine catle and other livestock waste and of course the added nitrogen fertilizer bought in 100 lb. sacks and spread over crops. That's where detectable nitrates come from. Septic tanks in those valleys are not under prohibition like the LO PZ systems, "prohibited" from discharging.

The County is pulling Los Osos' collective leg if you all think they have no intention of using Tri-W for the sewer. That's why they are suing the district in BK court, read the causes of action. They are trying to prevent its sale. Why? Like to dust off the MWH project and get it back on track. Just likel Blakeslee taking donations from the very contractors who went home, this is far far from over and no one outside Osos cares if the sewer is downtown or not. Did you notice? Klemz's article speaks to natives coming back the site, only silver lupin has returned to Tri-W, everthing is invasive non-native crap, including Eucalyptus trees (oh no not Joey in the tree again!).

"So, I say, maybe we should keep all our huge political signs up. Maybe put up even bigger, taller one. With so many trees cut down, we should at least offer some alternative perches for our feathered friends."

Is that all you have to say on the subject?

All of the signs need to come down now. TW, CCLO are you listening? Ann certainly isn't.

Nitrates in the water Morro Bay? Seems your water has been fouled by the four legged grass grinders upstream. I've asked several people about the horse stables up on our hills. No answers at all, don't talk about it,off limits. Large source of nitrates? you betcha.

If anyone, and I mean anyone, thinks Ann in any way, shape or form gives one rat's ass about the Los Osos community; it's aesthetics; it's communal cohesiveness; it's togetherness, think again. Ann IS the very definition of a sewer jihadist she speaks about all the time. She knows only the sewer saga. She knows only persectuion. She knows only Los Osos as victum by the vast county-wide/county-wide conspiracy. Ann will never attempt to bring the community together through her writing because her very editorial existence (which the Bay News in an extreme travesty gives her carte blanche each and every week) depends on the sewer saga and the divisiveness in this community that exists because of it.

You see, there are so many ramifications and sources of conflict. Some stables are just below Cabrillo Estates. Cabrillo Estates is not deemed to be polluting. Some stables are out at Love Farm. So far I have not heard anything about their pollution. Are you saying that maybe the prohibition zone is not entirely responsible for the perceived pollution? Could this be a breakthrough in public relations where it is acknowledged that the community as a whole should share in the responsibility of taking care of our water supply? When you think about it, has anyone shown any documentation of the damage or expected damage of our so-called pollution of the upper aquafier and thus the bay? I swear when I moved here 35 years ago, the Bay smelled constantly. What happened to that? If it was our pollution that releieved the smell, that's a good thing.Sincerely, M

Ok, my last absurdity of the day. We buy undeveloped lots in the Prohibition zone, and place large tanks there. We blend the landscape so as to be unobtrusive. We pipe the effluent from individual tanks to their nearby storage tank. We then pump those storage tanks, and or send them to treatment somewhere else. This would require of course that it is ascertained that your tank is indeed leaking or not. Something that has always bothered me. "Suspected leaking septic tanks" leading to pollution. Is there any documentation of leaking tanks?Sincerely, M

"Ann will never attempt to bring the community together through her writing because her very editorial existence (which the Bay News in an extreme travesty gives her carte blanche each and every week) depends on the sewer saga and the divisiveness in this community that exists because of it. "

Worst take ever.

You have got to be kidding me. The divisiveness exists because of Ann? I don't remember Ann overriding the entire environmental review process for no reason whatsoever. Nope. Ann didn't do that.

Ron, you've got to admit that Ann is pretty clearly on one side in this whole sewer debate, just like Gordon would be reasonably categorized as on the other side.

It is quite reasonable for people to criticize her regularly published point of view as having contributed to our divided community just like it is quite reasonable for her to criticize Gordon's actions.

Why would you allow Republicans to get away with criticizing Democrats for divisiveness but argue that Democrats shouldn't be allowed to criticize Republicans on the same charge?

When Mike Green came out with the problem with horses as contributing to the Los Osos problem, needless to say the vision of Al Gore came up! He suggested that we would be better without cars, and horses were the answer. I love horses, especially the big Belgiums and Clydesdales. The bigger the better!

I actually thought that was a good idea when I first heard it. However within five seconds I thought of horse manure blowing in the wind. Within one minute, I considered large piles of horse manure composting and producing gas to run electrical generators. And then two minutes thereafter, I thought that we might be able to provide employment to the homeless to collect the horse manure. After a few more minutes, I considered that if people could not commute to work because horses were too slow, people could stay at home and telecommute. After all, most people just sit and work at computers.

And then I thought of beautiful horses, snaking trees through a forest with selective cutting, so big tractors would not be necessary, so we could use more horses who would fertilize the forests as they worked, and more unemployed would have to take care of the horses. The thought was so beautiful that I fell to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and realized I was a true green. But then I farted, and entered the 21st century!

Ron sez:"You have got to be kidding me. The divisiveness exists because of Ann? I don't remember Ann overriding the entire environmental review process for no reason whatsoever. Nope. Ann didn't do that."

while Inlet sez:"It is quite reasonable for people to criticize her regularly published point of view as having contributed to our divided community just like it is quite reasonable for her to criticize Gordon's actions."

It's interesting to me that Inlet apparently hasn't been reading my columns, ever. If he had, he would have noted that for YEARS each sewer column bore the headline: "Oh Lucy, Joooo gotta lotta 'splainin' to doooo" and featured the drawing of an alligator up to his waist in water and rain or a guy in a diver's suit holding an umbrella & etc. both headline and drawing signalling: BRIDGE OUT SLOW TO 60. HELLO! HELLOOOOOOO!

Did the community (or even Inlet) pay the lest attention to the warning flags I was hurling down with each column, year after year? And try to demand 'splanations while there was time to alter course, fill in the correct dots, restore the proper process and thereby prudently avoid the train wreck? Nope. Not a bit of it. It's now Let's Blame the Messenger because we didn't listen to her message at the time. One poster even thinks that I alone am responsible for everything, some sort of Empress Del Mundo. As if. He clearly wasn't reading my columns either.

Are you trying to tell us that you view your columns as balanced on the whole sewer thing?

Are you trying to tell us that you don't think that you've chosen one side and that you've been openly critical of the other side?

For all your warnings about being asleep at the switch and for all your complaining about things that didn't go right, how many of your columns ended up criticizing people named Julie, Lisa or Gail? How often have you criticized "dreamers" or "taxpayers watch"?

Face it, we are all biased here and our biases are based on our particular set of experiences and our take on the issues at hand ... so don't be surprised that some would quite reasonably view you as the Tony Snow of Los Osos ... the spokesperson on a sinking ship trying to pretend that everything the captain and crew have been doing has been right all along.

My reason for bringing it up is that you've been openly critical of TW for getting in the way and causing divisiveness. To me it seems like the pot is calling the kettle black.

Can you help Los Osos heal? I would suggest that you can. If, in your columns you are clear to point out that both the solutions group and the current group in office promised something during the campaign that they had no hope of being able to deliver. Both groups were warned, in advance, by people in the know, that their plans were not going to work as smoothly as they were telling us. Both groups have taken unwise actions which have forced the costs up and both groups have responded to the other group by taking actions which have forced the costs up even higher.

Where does this leave us? Well, if you start to blame everyone who has played a part in creating our financial nightmare (instead of just people named Joyce and Gordon), maybe you can regain some of the credibility you've lost in the last year. Maybe you can start talking with people like Joe and Maria and John Fouche and asking them their honest opinion on things and mulling it over before printing a commentary which sounds like Lisa or Gail wrote the skeleton before you polished it up.

No offense, Ann, but please realize that you are a "player" here in Sewerville because you are a commentator rather than a reporter and please realize that you've been playing for one team and against the other team. The sad thing is that both teams have the same goal, the betterment of our town, but you don't seem to recognize that those who are doubtful of the agenda of the current CSD board aren't evil or bad. These folks have reasons and I would love you to listen to them with an open mind before writing your columns. Please realize that a mind is like a parachute and will only function when open.

While it is okay to write what you believe, please make an effort to fairly understand the opinions of those you criticize.

Ann: I might bring to your attention that it is the second rat that visits the trap that gets the cheese.

You bring up a developed use for Tri-W, but there is a water shortage, and a moretorium for building in the PZ still exists. Of course you would love to remove the possibility of Tri-W ever being used as a treatment plant, regardless of cost advantages, should they exist. You might remember that many millions have already been spent for design, permits, grading, and partial construction of the collection system. Well, keep it up, and we will have Carmel by the sea here. Cost is a tremendous factor along with a time line. You, in your apparent advocacy of an out of town site, regardless of cost (still unknown) are doing the community a disservice by advocacy until the costs are clear. To simply suggest that the county will not do their best for us is dishonest. There are a lot of variables to consider, and we, the property owners, ultimately will make the decision as to how and where by voting our pocketbooks, or NOT.

In the meantime the drawdown of our lower aquifers continues at an alarming rate, and something should be done now. The first would be irregation wells for our schoolyards, water to be taken from the upper aquifer. The second would be to remove the nitrates from our upper aquifer wells at the well, so we could increase our available water supply, and stop a percentage of drawdown from our lower aquifer, reducing salt water intrusion. There is ample technology to do this, and it is proven worldwide. Check "denitrification" on the web.

This sewer may take a long time to become a reality, wherever it is sited.(Consider suits against an out of town site by the property owners near the site, and a court challange to the Blakeslee Bill. Also consider what will happen if a 218 vote fails.)

However, salt water intrusion is a ticking time bomb called "state water", and it must be defused now. 50 gallons per day per person is not practical unless you wish our town to look like a desert.

As far as your advocacy is concerned, I agree with El Tiburon. I learned a long time ago that 1/2 of a pig is better than no pig at all, especially when there is no food on the table. The existing board made a choice, and took away the 1/2 a pig, and now we are beggars to the county and possibly next to the state.

It's not as if the Tribune killed the message board completely. All that needs to happen is for a new thread to be started where people stick to debating issues instead of attacking personalities. What a concept.

Most people of the secular-progressive (liberal) persuasion look to Europe as being far more advanced than we are in all respects. They have legal abortion pills, universal healthcare, great pensions, and terrific welfare for those who cannot find jobs. Their water standard for nitrates are 30 ppm,(30 ml/l) and one would be hard pressed to find any reporting of "blue baby syndrome".

Our standard is 10 ppm (10 ml/l). All I know is that one corned beef dinner, or five slices of bacon, would push an individual over the limit for a month. If you wonder why bacon tastes salty or corned beef the same, and why the lean in bacon is red as is the corned beef, it is because of potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate. For the ladies who would be frisky after a boyfriend/husband comes back from St. Patty's day affair after eating lots of corned beef, forget it. The same after a big breakfast of bacon and eggs. Male salami eaters do not make great lovers.

Jon, I have never understood why conservatives need the moral support of secular thinking, You would think that a less obtrusive government would be more in line with the conservative ideal of "less government" My libertarian leanings yearn for the minimal government on moral issues, but a more liberal leaning when large enviromental projects are concerned. Therefore, in my opinion the most advanced culture on the planet is The Cargo Cults of New Guinea

Euphemia states: "I know there are a lot of Fascists who write on this blog."

Dictionary.com defines the issue:

Facism: a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

Facist: one who supports this system.

On this blog there are individuals debating false information, alternative ideas, pros and cons, what ifs, and mostly putting forth opinion and speculation. And then there are those trying to rewrite history through spin, some saying "I told you so", and then there are people asking questions in an attempt to discover the seventh seal in the book of revelations, looking for "truth".

But under all this there is reality, and what has happened has happened. We can all accuse each other of being "ignorant", many we can accuse of being "mentally challenged" (stupid), but only one we can accuse of wearing stripped socks (not relevant, but had to get it in!).

But "facists"? Will you reiterate? Before you use a word of this type you should really know the meaning of the word. Otherwise you open yourself to challanges using some of the above accusations.

Mike:This conservative needs no help from secular progressive thinking. The European governments are spending themselves into oblivion. Tongue in cheek. And now I have to look up the Cargo Cults in New Guinea, I AM ignorant you know!

Dear Mike,Cargo Cults of New Guinea! I haven't heard of them in awhile but they are more of a Western casualty from WWII. They sat on airstrips playing with boxes and pretended to turn dials in the hopes that the cargo would fall from the sky for them as it did when the soldiers were there. I guess it is similar to how we sit and wait for "magic" sand to clean our water and how horses that are not very densely populated are contributing to the high nitrate levels and "if we move a sewer out of town it will be cheaper" and if we just do an isotope study(that would be a multi-million dollar project with the possiblity of revealing little helpful information)we'll know the "TRUTH". We have no airstrip but we do have TriW and maybe we should start a little government that meets there and they can promise us that if we wait long enough, everything will be o.k with no financial or emotional loses to our community. Oh yeah, never mind, there is already one that meets on the other side of the street in the community center! I'm going to go back and look up Cargo Cults again too. I had to do some research for an Anthropology class and couldn't even come up with 20 reliable sources in 1992 - I bet there's more out there now! They were an interesting case study on the Social Psychology of groups and how they behave with the evolution of a new belief system, a religion really, in the mid-20th century from circumstances that culturally they had no frame of reference to really understand the connections between the radios and the airplanes. Not that dissimilar to how we play the lottery! Thanks for a great topic to discuss at the end of a very long day.Sincerely,Maria M. Kelly

Maria, well said. And Mike you have opened up the seventh seal by opening up a discussion of cargo cults. While there is no evidence of excessive Kava drinking here, and most here would not understand it's effects or even existance, the John Frum cargo cult seems to have a relativity to what has gone on throught the years in Los Osos, and still continues. If you add a toxoplasmosis infestation in place of the Kava as a detriment to reality, one can possibly see the cause and development of our own cargo cult. Our cult would have at its basis:

1. Cheaper and better. 2. Proposition "B" will save us. 3. We have a site and system. 4. The CCRWQCB is toothless. 5. We will succeed regardless and move the sewer. 6. We will not lose the low cost loan. 7. The contractors are in violation of their contract and will not prevail. 7. We can negotiate with regulating boards. 8. Septic tanks and leach fields do not cause our nitrate problem. 9. The old board caused the district insolvency.

One can look at the above as strong religious cult values, and we have gone to church at the board meetings, however previous cult meetings have been held by adherents elsewhere.

And now I have come to the conclusion that the cargo cult analogy is valid for Los Osos. I have always realized that it makes no sense to argue about religion: It is almost impossible to convert a devout Christian to a Jew. I will go to bed in despair. Sorry you both enlightened me.

Maybe John Frum will appear to me in a dream and give me hope. Perhaps he will promise me that the Democrats will correct the foolish spending of our definitely not conservative previous congress, and keep this country safe.

Dear Anon,As a candiate, I stated very clearly that I would support the county and their evaluation of all the options. I am not an engineer, or a hydrologist, or an ecologist, or an archeologist, or any of the other professionals involved in site specific decision making proceeses. I am aware of my limits, my strengths, which tend to lean towards organizational abilities, and my passion for my community. As I have stated before, my desire was to serve our community and offer a perspective that didn't have the emotional charge that many carry with them. It was fairly clear to me that there were enough others that would be left on the board to "lobby" and that my role would have been to support the community by working with the county and the process that is going to start. Things end up as they are intended to so there is no remorse on my part and I'm looking forward to continuing my education on pertinant topics.And Mike, I'm sorry, fresh out of bamboo and boxes!Sincerely,Maria M. Kelly

Dear Anon,Please look at the bylaws under number 5; AUTHORITY OF THE DIRECTORS, and read through 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and then the following section 6. Directors should not operate under bias period, either to the county or the citizens of Los Osos. They are to guide the buisness the CSD. Please look carefully at section 5.2 that reads as follows:

Directors do not represent any fractional segment of the community, but are, rahter, a part of the body which represents and acts for the comunity as a whole.

I ran for a board position because I firmly believe that the current board does not adhere to the previous statement. Regardless of how you feel about this, this is the guideline set forth in our bylaws by which our governance is adhered to. Thank you for your comment and I look forward to our continual development as a community that follows their bylaws as stated.Sincerely,Maria M. Kelly

Spectator dearest-- the OED defines fascism as "a system of extreme right-wing, authoritarian views." The word derives from "fasces", the ancient Roman symbol of the power of government--a bundle of rods (corporal punishment) surrounding an axe (capital punishment.) Here in Sewerville they use CDOs instead, but all the same, it's about all-powerful government trumping the rights of the individual. People who support the punishment of innocent individuals to glorify the power of the state are called "fascists" in any language.

Thankfully, we have Directors that will be representing the Majority of our citizens that elected them and not kowtow to the County. I loved it at the candidate's forum when Maria said she wouldn't fight the County. I think it cost her votes.

Inlet sez:"My reason for bringing it up is that you've been openly critical of TW for getting in the way and causing divisiveness. To me it seems like the pot is calling the kettle black."

Imagine, if you will, no Dreamer, No TPWer, no Gordon, none of them emailed Briggs and demanded he fine the CSD out of existence, demanded he find some way to take the Tri W project out of the CSD's hands after the recall, did not sue new Board members personaly, did not continue the measure B lawsuit, instead said, O.K. voters have spoken, let's see what compromise we can work out, let's email Briggs and tell him and the State water board we're in 90 day standdown, don't do anything crazy, let's seriously consider the Negotiations that arent't negotiations, then see if we can't come together with an actual compromise solution, including a Prop 218 vote & etc. What would have happened? What could have happened? Let's play Imagine, shall we? The CSD was calling for compromise, so many of the people who showed up at that October CSD meeting held their noses on both sides of the aisle and said, O.K. I can live with this. But let's ask what kind of kneecapping was going on in the background? and by whom?

spectator sez:"To simply suggest that the county will not do their best for us is dishonest. There are a lot of variables to consider, and we, the property owners, ultimately will make the decision as to how and where by voting our pocketbooks, or NOT."

That's not what I am saying. I'm saying that this community had better keep their eyes open because, whether or not the County does its best, there are tremendous pressures by some major players here and in Sacramento to move this issue into one corner or the other for their own benefit, not this community's benefit. The county may not be able to withstand those pressures, no matter how honest they are, how hard they try. As for "carmel by the sea," that process started years ago. An expensive sewer will only speed it up, but will not cause it.

Anonymous said,"The Tribune has erased the LOCSD sewer blog. You had better get ready. Now you will have plenty of opinion coming over here to support or dispute your views. Things are looking up!

I guess you have always been right about the Tribune: They are in business to create news, not report on it. Someone else said that the Tribune was worse than no paper at all. I agree."

If they shut the site down because people were Behaving Badly, then good for them. I hope People Behaving Badly won't show up here. There's plenty to discuss and debate on any website, but let's stick to the topics, please.

As for the Tribune. Newspapers are a business. They do what they have to do to keep themselves in business. Their interests may not be the same as the community's interest. The good old days of journalism being a "sacred" profession are long gone. Corporate interests trump civic interests. Follow the money. It's not just the Trib, it's all media.

As for a cargo cult. Wow, I love it. We could hold bonfire rallies at the TriW site, stand around all night staring at the sky waiting for the Flying Sewer Plant to land. I'll wear my striped socks and bring dip 'n chips.

I pointed out that there are many who view your opinion as very biased and pretty divisive as well and suggested that if you tone down your rhetoric a bit and if you start to listen carefully to both sides you might be able to help our community heal ... and you responded by telling me that it is okay for you to write what you've written because you view the other side as divisive. Sounds like you are saying "if they are mean, I should get to be mean as well."

Sounds pretty lame to me.

I would suggest, yet again, that you be just as critical of the actions of the current board as you are of their detractors. Even if you by-n-large agree with the current board, you should still be willing to question (their) authority. You have a great tradition of asking "why" of everyone except those with CCLO and LOTTF and "move the sewer" histories. It would be simply wonderful if you would ask critical questions of Julie and Chuck and Gail, questions like "why do you think that out of town will save us money?" and "how will stopping construction make the project more affordable?" and "is it wise to pound money into a lawyer's bank account when we don't have much to begin with?" and "where are the budget figures that we used to get every month from Bruce at the meetings?".

Like I've said many many times before, just because the Solutions Group messed things up doesn't mean that those who oppose the plans of Rose and Stan and Gordon are necessarily right and that they are wise enough to fix the mistakes the right way.

"That's not what I am saying. I'm saying that this community had better keep their eyes open because, whether or not the County does its best, there are tremendous pressures by some major players here and in Sacramento to move this issue into one corner or the other for their own benefit, not this community's benefit. The county may not be able to withstand those pressures, no matter how honest they are, how hard they try. As for "carmel by the sea," that process started years ago. An expensive sewer will only speed it up, but will not cause it."

I agree with the above. However, I have not considered the "benefit to some major players". Now maybe I AM naive. I will undertain any conspericy theories here. Bring them on! Who will actually benefit or has benefitted by this sewer debaucle outside of local real estate people who will be selling listings or contractors who will be able to build when the prohibitions against building are listed. These benefits would be normal. Help!

John Frum, worshiped by the cargo cult, visited me in a dream last night. He told me to build the boxes. He also told me that the answer to our septic tank problem was that our sandy soil does not have enough carbon for the anaerobic bacteria to work with to convert nitrate to free nitrogen. He said that Kava would not help, but would make us feel better. He said alcohol was the answer. He said that dumping a gallon of alcohol down the toilet every other week would provide enough carbon to make the anerobic bacteria remove the nitrate in the sandy soil. He said that big sewer systems feed their anaerobic banks with methanol (wood alcohol) to remove nitrate. He also said that we might have to charge our septic tanks with anaerobic bacteria.

He also told me that the sewer would come, whether we needed it or not. So spoke John Frum. Before we believe this we might look for documentation; it was only a dream.

He also asked me to ask you what you will be fishing for this weekend.

Jon, You can forget about starting a cargo cult, we are too late, it's already been done. The local chapter asssymbled thier altar just before they cut the trees down, of course it was a very poor altar being made of sticks and string and ribbons. They named it the "Storey poles" in some lame attempt to cover up the religious nature of their beseechings. Did it work? Time will tell, but your visitation with John Frum could be a sign. Halibut, but the weather may change There are very few old bold sailors.

Out, drift bounceballing with a hootchie and a chovie. can't be to rough or windy, won't be able to keep the rigs down Moons good not to full, tides are strong minus in the afternoon, good tidepooling for the curious. Always wanted to try Kava heard it tastes peppery.

Yeh, Kava! Chew it up! Spit it out! Long trip for the experience. Catch dem fish! You will be rocked on a drift. Run the other pole with squid, cut long, chovie on top. Good luck. Start your drift at 120 ft in sand. I like B52s. Never gave a damn for natural bait for hallibut. Remember the comeback, watch the depth. Puppies will stay within 20 yards on a thermocline at a particular depth on the bottom.

Inlet sez:"It would be simply wonderful if you would ask critical questions of Julie and Chuck and Gail, questions like "why do you think that out of town will save us money?" and "how will stopping construction make the project more affordable?" and "is it wise to pound money into a lawyer's bank account when we don't have much to begin with?" and "where are the budget figures that we used to get every month from Bruce at the meetings?".

1. I'm waitng for the Independent Vetted Review of the Project update and the Ripley Report. Want to see those numbers. 2. The voters voted to stop the project (Measure B and the recall) If the original Board had not pounded $$ into the ground in an attempt to intimidate and threaten the voters, all that money wouldn't have been wasted and wouldn't have to be added on. 3) The biggest chunk of lawyer pay out came as the result of the old Board voting to stop Measure B from getting on the ballot. Really BAD MOVE. I'm still waiting for somebody to honestly tell me whether Jon Seitz agreed to that lawsuit or whether the old Board Majority ignored his warning.

The problem, Inlet, is that everything is linked. I know you'd like to just forget the past, but actions taken by the old Board are going to cost all of us big time now and in the future.

Inlet also sez:"I pointed out that there are many who view your opinion as very biased and pretty divisive as well and suggested that if you tone down your rhetoric a bit and if you start to listen carefully to both sides you might be able to help our community heal ..."

If, I say IF, it's possible that you screwed up and breached a contract either by accident or by jumping the gun and if that were found to be so in a court of law and you'd then be responsible for a whole pile of damages and attornyes fees, and if, I say IF, there was a way to cut a deal with some entity, to bury the whole thing, fold it into some new deal, then bury the victim and the case entirely and stick all costs to the rate payers and just walk away from the whole mess, would you do it? Remember, I'm saying IF.

1. Jon Seitz FULLY supported the CSD lawsuit to have measure B taken off the ballot as he saw (correctly in light of the TW lawsuit ruling) that the measure B was not constitutional. Call Jon at 543-7272 and ask him yourself.

2. The old CSD spent less than $10,000 to fight Measure B (and won). The new CSD has spent over $350,000 (and counting)to make Measure B valid (and have lost).

3. Your waiting to see which project is "cheaper" is adding to the project's cost at the rate of $40,000 per day / $1,200,000 per month. No matter what you do, inflation costs will eat up any attempt to lower costs. Time is the enemy here.

4. To date, the new CSD board has "pounded" over $2,500,000 into a new project(consultant fees, lawyer costs) with absolultly no results (other than losing the project). And do not forget the $6,500,000 in fines and the $6,400,000 in State money that must be returned too.

Yet again I ask you to help our community heal and yet again you justify your choosing one side over the other and your refusal to ask critical questions of those on both sides. Yet again you sound just like Tony Snow.

I can understand that it is a good idea to get an official, unbiased review of the Ripley project. However, you've had not qualms about promoting or criticizing other things without full complete review, so your unwillingness to even consider the questions that Richard and I and others have raised is very troubling. In particular, we've given you a pretty thorough set of reasons to view the Ripley team as having given us a biased comparison of the sites and having underestimated the costs of their proposed project. You could do a tiny bit of homework and verify Richard's calculations or perhaps change his assumptions about the interest rate, inflation rate and time to start of construction and see how the numbers change. Doing so would be really educational for you. You would see that for pretty much any realistic assumed inputs, Ripley will cost more than TriW.

Who disagrees with you? Um ... me, Jon, Richard, Joyce, publicworks, most of those over in the Tribune discussion forum, most of those who support taxpayers watch. Now I can imagine how you are going to respond ... something like "well, those folks are biased so it is no surprise that they would by offended by my outing of the truth." Just remember that both last year and this year, the votes were nearly equally divided between those who you say are heroes and those who advocate things you've strongly disagreed with. Our community is divided and you could help if you wanted to. Again, if you would simply ask questions critical of the leadership of both sides in our town it would bridge the gap.

Shark:I might be wrong, but I don't think I've EVER heard Ann ask for the community to heal. This isn't about healing for Ann, or Ron, or the other obstructionists in this town. It's all about placing blame, playing victum, playing martyr, proving points, fighting "the man." It's a war for these folks. A religion. It's nasty, and it's anything BUT about healing.

Ann sez:"If, I say IF, it's possible that you screwed up and breached a contract either by accident or by jumping the gun and if that were found to be so in a court of law and you'd then be responsible for a whole pile of damages and attornyes fees, and if, I say IF, there was a way to cut a deal with some entity, to bury the whole thing, fold it into some new deal, then bury the victim and the case entirely and stick all costs to the rate payers and just walk away from the whole mess, would you do it? Remember, I'm saying IF."

Perhaps I was not clear. I am looking for some sort of personal finantial beneft to someone in Sacramento. However, your "if" should give the current board some sleepless nights. Their breach was deliberate.

You know Sharkey, I'm getting a little tired of your attacks on Ann, you seem to think that She has way more influence than I can discern. Take a poll outside Von's, ask everyone if they read Ann Calhoun's Cannons or this blog. I don't think you realise what a small club we are. As for taking her to task for not "healing" this town, balony. If to be healed is to be perpetualy asleep at the switch, I'll take awake. And by the way, what the heck have YOU done to heal this community? You talk out of both sides of your mouth when you say you dont support the CDOs but then say and do nothing when your neighbors and community ask for help. Get off Ann's back, of course she's biased and believes she's right, at least she's honest about it. I dont agree with everything Ann writes but I'm damn glad she dose. Just like I don't agree with you all the time either. So thats my Thanksgiving message. Be Thankfull for this oportunity to express ourselves so easily.

Calhouns Can(n)ons

About the Can(n)ons

Calhoun's Can(n)ons was originally published in 1990 in the (now defunct) Morro Bay, CA, Sun Bulletin, and since 1992 has continued in the various resurrections of the Los Osos, CA. Bay News, Bay Breeze, Bay News, Bay News-Tolosa Press. A few years ago, the Can(n)on was added to the Central Coast NewsMission blogsite. Ann Calhoun lives in Los Osos. You can email her at Churadogs at gmail dot com

To be persuasive, we must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible, we must be truthful. Edward R. Murrow

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; the essential is invisible to the eye.Antoine de Saint-ExuperyThe Little Prince

No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the misfortune is to do it solemnly. Montaigne